Two Cambridge students founded Miniswap, a Warhammer miniatures marketplace, by making a contrarian bet: they are prioritizing human taste, craftsmanship, and curated communities for niche hobbies over the Silicon Valley obsession with AI and automation. The non-AI company recently raised $3.5 million.
The Miniswap model presents an alternative operational strategy: rather than relying heavily on AI for product recommendations and customer engagement, companies can cultivate expert-led communities and emphasize the quality of human curation. This approach can improve customer satisfaction in certain areas where algorithms struggle to replicate nuanced understanding, but requires more significant investment in human resources and community management.